The entry of the industry-leading ridesharing company, Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uberâ€), into the Pennsylvania market has been, from a legal and regulatory perspective, tumultuous.  First, as a result of Uber having provided transportation services within Pennsylvania without having first obtained the proper authorization, an administrative tribunal of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (“PUCâ€) has recommended that Uber be fined nearly $50 million.  Second, Uber has also been sued in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by forty-five Pennsylvania taxi companies which alleged that Uber had engaged in unfair competition, false advertising, and even criminal behavior in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.  Finally, Uber has also had a federal class action lawsuit, DiNofa v. Uber Technologies, Inc., filed against it in that same court by an Uber driver claiming that Uber had misclassified its drivers in Pennsylvania as independent contractors rather than as employees under Pennsylvania law, and that those drivers were therefore entitled to a number of additional benefits from Uber.

Uber has so far proven to be remarkably resilient, however.  The PUC has not formally assessed the $50 million penalty against Uber, the majority of claims in the taxi companies’ lawsuit have been dismissed by the court, and the DiNofa class action lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff.  Furthermore, the Pennsylvania state legislature is currently considering Senate Bill 984, which would legalize the operations of and grant permanent licenses to ridesharing companies like Uber within Pennsylvania.

Despite the above legal and regulatory victories, Uber is not yet completely in the clear in Pennsylvania.  Even though DiNofa was voluntarily dismissed, the primary issue raised in that case - whether Uber’s drivers are properly classified as employees or independent contractors under Pennsylvania law - could still potentially derail Uber in Pennsylvania if it is ever raised in another lawsuit and decided against Uber.  In that case, Uber would then likely be required to provide its drivers with a number of additional benefits it does not currently provide, thereby perhaps rendering Uber’s current business model untenable.  An analysis of that classification issue under Pennsylvania law is thus extremely important in considering the likely success of Uber and its competitors in Pennsylvania going forward.